


Surf's Up

by firesign10



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Comment Fic, F/M, Hurt Sam Winchester, Hurt/Comfort, Kelpies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-04
Updated: 2015-11-04
Packaged: 2018-04-30 01:08:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5144741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firesign10/pseuds/firesign10
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jess takes Sam to the beach for the first time...and maybe the last.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Surf's Up

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [](http://center-galaxy.livejournal.com/profile)[center_galaxy](http://center-galaxy.livejournal.com/)'s prompt of 1) the beach 2) Jess 3) Kelpie attack at [](http://ohsam.livejournal.com/profile)[ohsam](http://ohsam.livejournal.com/)'s [comment meme](http://ohsam.livejournal.com/845164.html)

“Come on, Sam! The water's perfect!”

Jess ran into the surf, laughing and waving her arms. Sam had to laugh at her exuberance, despite his own fears. He was not a fan of water; to him, lakes were potential sites for hunts. Spirits, nature elementals, all kinds of nasties like to congregate around water. He'd learned to swim as a necessity, but he'd take a nice, safe pool any day.

He lived in California now, though, and in California one went to the beach. Jess was a California girl through and through, with her long, tanned legs and blonde curly hair, wide smile as she romped in the waves. She'd gasped in mock horror when he said he'd never been, and so now here they were, the very next weekend, picnicking in a small private beach she knew about. She'd even bought Sam a proper pair of board shorts—dark blue with green and turquoise waves on them. He was grateful she hadn't gotten some really loud ones, like the ones he's seen someone wear with huge pink flowers splashed across them. What guy wore shorts like that?

“Come on, Sam! Don't make me drag you in!” Jess had her hands on her hips now, and Sam knew what that meant. She would think nothing of making good on her threat. One of the things he loved about her was the way she faced everything head-on.

He stood up, careful not to kick sand onto their pile of clothes on the corner of the blanket. Jess clapped as he walked to the water's edge. “Come on, it's just water!” She grabbed his hand and pulled him in deeper. He gasped with the initial chill of the water, but her joy was infectious.

 _This is why I left,_ he thought. _This is normal. I can do this._ He resolutely shut the door on his darker fears and grabbed Jess around the waist, kissing her breathless.

“That's my boy,” she whispered, and Sam deliberately ignored the masculine echo of those words in his head.

They dove into the oncoming waves, and Jess showed him how to body-surf. Sam enjoyed it, relaxing more and more, relishing the force of the waves, the water sparkling under the sun, Jess' white smile and wet, lithe body. The sounds of the waves and the seagulls was the perfect accompaniment to their laughter and banter. Now he understood why people flocked to the beach in the first place. And they had this little spot all to themselves. It was perfect.

A particularly large wave dunked Sam, and he tumbled over before finding his footing. When he broke the surface again, he saw a man swimming near-by. Jess waved at the man, and he swam closer. The man had light brown hair, longer than Sam's, and boasted an impressive build, from what Sam could see above the water. Sam felt a twinge of jealousy; he was well aware of how beautiful Jess was, besides being so warm and bubbly.

“Hey,” he said, swimming closer to Jess.

The man nodded and smiled. He jerked his head and gestured to the waves, swimming out a little further and beckoning them. Jess dove after him, but Sam froze. Weren't they far enough? And who was this guy? A familiar chill ran down his spine. Not here, not in his sun-kissed, apple-pie life, right? Not...

 

“Jess!” Breaking out of his momentary paralysis, Sam dove after her, swimming strongly, his limbs fueled by alarm. The strange man's head broke the water's surface, and now Sam saw the seaweed in his hair, the twisted bit of rope around his neck.

_Kelpie!_

Sam had never heard of an ocean kelpie, but certainly coastal cultures all over the world had kelpie-based myths and lore. Who was to say there weren't ocean ones to? The analytic part of his brain wondered about the potential link between kelpies and siren myths, but he urgently pushed that aside to remember how to kill them.

He was almost up to them, and he yelled for Jess, reaching out for her. She was staring at the kelpie, her face blank. The man must be exerting some kind of thrall on her. With a final stroke, Sam was able to grab her arm and tug her closer. Her gaze broke and she turned to Sam with a puzzled look.

The kelpie screeched in anger and threw itself at Sam. He pushed Jess behind him as much as he could, and she screamed when the kelpie attacked Sam. The water made fighting back difficult; they were in a depth well over their heads, so Sam had no purchase on the ground. He swung and grappled the best he could, but the kelpie was in its natural environment and had the upper hand. It pulled at Sam's head and forced him under, clawing at his shoulders and back, tearing at his skin. Sam fought and got above water, gasping for air, mind racing frantically for how to kill the kelpie.

Sam gripped the kelpie's arms, wrestling with it. Jess screamed again. Sam shot a look at her. She looked terrified, but she was swimming at the kelpie, hammering at it with her fists. She landed a punch in its face, making the kelpie hiss at her. Sam yelled at her to get away. Instead, she jumped on the kelpie's back, one arm wrapped around its neck while the other fist pummeled its head.

The kelpie screeched angrily again, but its grip on Sam only tightened. It got Sam back under the water, tearing at him again, and he couldn't help screaming in pain. Sea water flooded his nose and mouth; for a moment he thought he was going to drown. _No, Jess! Save Jess!_ He kicked hard at the kelpie's torso and broke free, spluttering and coughing when he was back above water.

Jess swung around with the kelpie as it spun trying to dislodge her from its back, and Sam saw something sparkle.

_Her cross...her silver cross!_

Sam lunged for her, grabbing the cross and breaking the chain off her neck. He seized the kelpie's face, ignoring the blows it was landing on his ribs, and stabbed its eye with the cross.

The kelpie's scream was horrendous, but its face began to melt into jelly, the handsome features blurring as it liquefied. Sam stabbed the other eye, then stuffed the cross into its open mouth. He yelled at Jess to get away, and she threw herself back. He pushed the disintegrating mass away and joined Jess. They swam back to the beach, stroking hard as possible, leaving behind only a jelly-like, seaweed-laced mess floating on the water.

Staggering out of the surf, Sam fell onto the sand. The adrenaline of the fight was ebbing, and now the pain flooded in. The tears on his back and shoulders felt like fire, his ribs ached; he thought it was entirely possible a couple were cracked.

“Sam! Oh god, Sam!” He heard Jess crying, felt her hands softly touching him. ”Come on, let's get to the blanket.” She got under one of his arms and helped him to their blanket. “Sam, we need a doctor!”

“Car...first aid kit.” There were a lot of hunters' habits Sam hadn't broken, and one was having a well-stocked kit in his car. Jess ran off, and he lay on the blanket, letting the sun warm him and just breathing.

She was back in a flash, and he instructed her to first flush his wounds with fresh water. He didn't tell her it was actually holy water, of course. Then she gently applied antibiotic ointment, butterfly strips, and taped gauze over that.

“I think some of those might need stitches,” she said worriedly. “We really should see a doctor.”

“I'll look at it when we get back.” He snorted. “What do we tell the doctor, we had a fight with something that turned into a jellyfish?”

She rocked back to sit cross-legged. “Sam...what _was_ that? I've never...I mean, it...” Her voice quavered. “And how did you know what to do?” Her eyes were huge in her pale face.

Sam slowly sat up. He'd tape his ribs up at home, and he'd take some painkillers then too. The next couple of days were not going to be fun. And that didn't even count telling Jess about his world.

“Jess...let's get home, okay? And then...well, we have a lot to talk about.” 


End file.
